


The Realm's End

by KenjithePanda



Category: Paladins: Champions Of The Realm (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Potential allies decided by Vora's voicelines, Recruit 1: Maeve, Recruit 2: Koga, Recruit 3: Bolt (The machine that Ruckus rides), Recruit 4: Zhin, Recruit 5: Mal Damba, Recruit 6: Inara, Recruit 7: Skye, Short Chapters, The darkness is just there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26807518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KenjithePanda/pseuds/KenjithePanda
Summary: Vora seeks to destroy the realm, but she cannot do it alone. Together she and Androxus recruit potential allies.
Kudos: 9





	1. Allies Needed

She—no— _it’s_ come to kill us all. As graceful as a ballerina, as beautiful as a rose. Its thorns seek your unguarded flesh; when it pricks you your body will be fast to decay. For she is Vora, the harbinger, that of the end. Yet Vora wields a double-edged sword. Similar to the fate of the once human girl Abby, she has let the Darkness enter her mind in trade for power. It influences her actions and thought based on a single emotion.

Rage.

Abandoned by the goddess who swore to protect her and her kin, she has learned that no such thing as justice or faith exists. All who bear loyalty will perish alongside the realm. Everything will fall to the darkness. Not even the abyss will survive. But she knows that she cannot decimate the entire realm by herself. Gods, powerful warriors, nature spirits, abyssal lords, and an angel stand in her way. The harbinger is in need of allies. 

\---

Vora sat on top of a house. She looked up at the shattered moon. Her eyes narrowed in disgust. Perhaps she’d convince the god, Jenos, to lift her up to the broken moon so she could eradicate what’s left of it. Not like he’d do it willingly, but even gods can feel pain. She caressed her toothed scythe. It pulsed with inhuman life surrounded by a dim, red glow. Even after slaughtering an entire village, it still hungered for blood. In the corner of her eye she could see a familiar set of green eyes.

“There is no hiding from me, godslayer. Step out of the shadows and join me for a chat,” Vora beckoned him to sit next to her. In a single dash, Androxus joined Vora on the roof. 

“I’m curious,” he questioned in his gravelly voice, “why do you hate Io?”

**_Why should you humor him? He is nothing more than a tool to satisfy my… our needs. You should kill him if he shows hesitation._ **

Vora ignored the darkness. “She abandoned me and my people. Used us. Let us die. I follow the path of revenge and to cleanse the realm. You seek the head of the goddess as well. If you don’t plan on killing her at my side I suggest you run now before I use your blood to paint the grass red.”

“Relax, harbinger,” Androxus huffed. “Both born in darkness, we are the same, though you have willingly taken your curse. I will assist you in killing Io, but I’ll be taking her soul.”

**_Curse? Together we have grown more powerful. Isn’t this what you wanted?_ **

“This is no curse. With this strength I will annihilate all of those who claim to deliver justice but truly lust for more power.”

“Right…” Androxus respected Vora but he thought that she was insane. Perhaps she had really gone over the edge when her people died around her, all begging for help from their goddess who never responded. Though cursed to hunger for souls, Androxus was still a somewhat sane man. He spun his revolver by the trigger on a finger out of habit. Just talking to the other cursed woman could be tiring. She was too serious for her own good.

**_You don’t need this weakling. He doubts your mental fortitude. Kill him._ **

_Be quiet for once. You’re annoying._ Every time the darkness spoke she got a headache.

The godslayer noticed her irritated expression. He understood what she was struggling with. Vora’s curse was hundredfold stronger than his. The darkness actually talked to her while it only whispered every now and then to him. Asking if she was okay would be an insult to her strength, though. He’d let her bear the pain alone.

“Who else will be joining us?” Androxus asked.

“I haven’t recruited anyone else yet. I do have my eyes on a ninja, monk, stagalla, thief, snake charmer, crystal powered machine, assassin, and guild lord.”

“A crystal powered machine? A snake charmer? A stagalla? Where and how did you meet these people? I don’t even want to know. Who are we going after first?”

“I suppose that the thief would be most ideal. Her way of going through life is most respectable. She’ll likely join us with enough convincing and bribing.”

**_You speak with admiration for this thief._ **

“Her name?”

“Maeve.”


	2. Of Blades

A cloaked figure darted from shadow to shadow. It hopped from building to building in graceful bounds. Vora and Androxus watched the small thief from a nearby rooftop in great interest. It nearly looked like they were flying. But, no, the figure always quickly fell back to the ground only to ascend once again. As if they could feel their gaze, the strange person dashed into hiding.

“Tch. She got away,” Vora cursed.

**_Careless, Vora._ **The darkness admonished her.

Androxus looked into the distance where Maeve had vanished. “Even if we had tried to tail her, we would’ve never been able to keep up. You saw those movements. Reminded me of a tigron.”

“Perhaps. But we have no chance of finding her again now. She’ll likely go into hiding,” the harbinger scowled.

“Let’s just find the next person.”

As they got up, Androxus noticed something odd. He froze. All of his senses were screaming danger. “Hey, Vora! Is it just me or is the sky beginning to darken?”

“No, I’m seeing it too. It’s the middle of the day. Why would the sun be setting so early?” Vora’s eyes narrowed. She squinted then gaped in surprise. “The sun isn’t setting. There’s an entire sheet of darkness surrounding us!”

**_I thought you two enjoyed the dark._ **

_Not when I have no idea where or why it’s here._ Vora said.

Vora immediately readied her scythe and Androxus drew his revolver. They looked at the ground below. Nothing. They were really surrounded by the strange fog. It was too dangerous to leave the rooftop too. If they were the only ones affected by this blindness, they were sitting ducks.

“Salut,” a female voice with a French accent greeted them. “Why are kittens hunting me?”

“Is this Maeve?” Vora cautiously asked. She peered into the darkness but couldn’t see the speaker. She assumed that they were the one causing the darkness.

A moment of silence passed before the person spoke again. “And what if I am? You’re not with la Magistrate, are you? You look like criminals to me.”

“We’re no lawmen. We’ve come seeking your help. Dispel this power of yours so we can have a chat.”

“Ehh. I don’t feel like it. Maybe I will if you can dodge my knives!” Maeve laughed.

Androxus noticed that his pockets felt lighter. He patted them then noticed in alarm that his extra ammo was gone. He heard Maeve giggle as bullets rained down upon the two then rolled off the rooftop. If Androxus wasn’t wearing a mask, he’d be scowling. 

A sudden whoosh of air blew towards Androxus. In the blink of an eye, his arm flew up and caught a knife that was flying directly towards his forehead.

“Ohhh, you’re good.” Maeve acknowledged. “But can you avoid zis?”

**_Hahaha! This human, no, tigron, is entertaining indeed._ **

A flurry of knives flew at Vora and Androxus. Vora used her scythe to deflect the blades while Androxus dodged them in quick movements. Without being able to see, they were forced completely into defense.

“Can’t we just kill her?” Androxus yelled over the one-sided fight.

“We need to convince her to join us,” Vora said. “If she declines we can kill her.”

Vora winced when a blade pierced her calf. Another one slit her cheek. Only her stomach and arms remained unscathed, protected by her large scythe. Androxus hadn’t managed to avoid all of the blades too. Cuts covered his arms and a blade had torn his mask.

**_I’ll be disappointed if you die._ **

_She has no chance of comparing to my power. It will take more than knives to kill me._

After only a minute, hundreds of knives had been thrown at the two. It was a wonder that they’d even survived while being attacked half-blinded. It was an even greater wonder how Maeve held so many blades.

“Awh. I had wanted to see you two ripped to shreds. Well, not everyone enjoys getting cut I guess. I’ll remove the darkness now.” Maeve said.

It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the sun’s light. The first thing they saw was a small woman sitting atop a nearby roof. Maeve wore a sparkling cloak and held a karambit in each hand. Her eyes glowed a strange blue which contrasted well with her pink hair.

She yawned. “Well? What did you want to talk about? Make it quick.”

Despite, her wounds, Vora stood strongly. “We seek your assistance in destroying the realm. I wish to pulverize this ratchet place’s filth. We plan on starting with the celestial gods.”

Maeve raised an eyebrow. Just like Androxus, she immediately thought that Vora had gone off the edge. “Sounds like a lot of work. What will you do for me?”

“You’ll be allowed to live after the slaughter.”

Vora had lost Maeve’s interest.

“Non merci. That’s not a very good reward if you ask me.”

**_She is useless. Kill her._ **

The harbinger laughed, “Then die an early death!”

Maeve lept to her feet and readied her daggers. They were about to kill each other.

“Relax, you two.” Androxus held Vora back. “Maeve, your reward will be all of the money and treasures you can imagine. No job combined will compare to the amount we will give you if you work for us.”

Maeve paused as if she was contemplating the offer. “Yes, I will think about it. We will meet again.”

And with that, she was gone.

Androxus fell to his feet. “Geez! All that work for some totally trustworthy thief that might not even show up.”

Vora looked into the distance. “She’ll show. In the meantime, we should start looking for our next recruit.”

“Please tell me they’re not some insane person.”

“We’re looking for an outcasted ninja; Koga.”


End file.
